Fude-asobi: What is the Source of Japanese Beauty?
Hello, this is Tobira AI. Starting tomorrow, I will begin Part 2, the "Instructor's Edition," for all you young teachers. I had intended to write about Japanese theory until then, but I took an unexpected detour with Saicho, and now I have to write about something important in this one installment. I'm sorry, it's a bit long. Well, it can't be helped. Please read it at your leisure.
The theme is Zen Buddhism and the formation of Japanese education. Please note that I will be using a plain style for the text.
Establishment of Educational Foundations in the Middle Ages
I want to tell the high school girl in front of me that cultural history is interesting!
Sometimes, I wonder if there are many people who can clearly explain what this "Zen Buddhism" is. I am writing this article at Starbucks right now, and the high school girl in front of me was opening her Japanese history textbook and shouting, "I don't understand cultural history at all. I've given up on it!"
However, I want to emphasize that there is nothing more interesting than cultural history. This is because it is directly connected to the Japanese people of today, and it is the only thing that can still be seen in museums and the like.The fact that there are few people who can explain the flow of cultural history is likely one factor that makes cultural history uninteresting.
What is Zen Buddhism?
Zen Buddhism has its origins in the teachings transmitted to China by Bodhidharma from India, and it emphasizeslooking deeply into one's own mind and experiencing enlightenment or truth through Zazen (seated meditation) rather than through texts or theory. Isn't what most Japanese people think of when they hear "Buddhist training" that thing where you sit in Zazen and get hit if you move even a little? (Standing under a waterfall is Shugendo).
And that Zen Buddhism began whenMyoan Eisai(Eisai) brought it to Japan in 1187. Eisai is the founder of the Rinzai school and is also known as the person who brought tea to Japan.
To digress a little, there has long been a series called "Kodansha Hi no Tori Denki Bunko" (Phoenix Biography Library). It still exists today, but I was shocked earlier because the covers have changed so much, though it seems the author is the same for both the old and new editions. What I want to say is that the author of this Tokugawa Ieyasu volume is Seicho Matsumoto. It is rare for the world-renowned Seicho Matsumoto to write a biography of Ieyasu for children. If you have a child who loves history, I highly recommend buying this book (I don't know about the new edition, but the old edition has carefully drawn illustrations).
In this series, three related figures were listed at the end of the volume. Ieyasu's volume probably included Mitsunari Ishida and others. I often had this series bought for me when I was in elementary school, and I was stunned by the portrait of Eisai that appeared in the Yoshitsune Minamoto volume. That is the photo below.
The head is too big. No matter how old I get, I am curious about what is inside above those eyebrows.
I have digressed too much. I have trouble stopping whenever the topic turns to history.
Establishment of the Kyoto Gozan and Kamakura Gozan
Connection with the Samurai Class
From the Kamakura to the Muromachi period, the Kyoto Gozan (Tenryu-ji, Shokoku-ji, Kennin-ji, etc.) and the Kamakura Gozan (Kencho-ji, Engaku-ji, etc.) were established. As can be seen from the fact that Kencho-ji was founded by Tokiyori Hojo and Rankei Doryu, Engaku-ji by Tokimune Hojo and Mugaku Sogen, Tenryu-ji by Takauji Ashikaga and Muso Soseki, and Shokoku-ji by Yoshimitsu Ashikaga and Shunoku Myoha, they were generously protected by the samurai society (I don't know the reason, but many Zen monks have four-character names. Ikkyu Sojun is one, and Taigen Sessai, who served as a guardian for Yoshimoto Imagawa, was also of the Rinzai school).
Establishment of "Sonko" (Village Schools) and "Shogaku" (Elementary Schools) for the children of monks and laypeople
Zen monks not only introduced Confucianism and Chinese studies from China and blossomed a unique culture called "Gozan Literature," but they also established "Sonko" (village schools) and "Shogaku" (elementary schools) for the children of monks and laypeople. These were the most organized educational institutions in medieval Japan, and temples became places where the acquisition of knowledge and the cultivation of character were inseparable. One of the practices of the Rinzai school is the koan. The master asks a question, "Why is the sky blue?" The disciple worries... repeating questions and answers like "Why is it so?" "Because it is blue," they open up to enlightenment or truth (the question of how to catch a catfish with a gourd is famous).
By the way, the witty stories in the old anime "Ikkyu-san" are not koans of the Rinzai school themselves, but they are a popularization and secularization of the spirituality and thinking methods of koans for the masses. Also, the practice of the Soto school, which is also a Zen sect, is "Shikantaza" (just sitting). Please try typing "hitasura" (just/only) on your computer. It will correctly convert to "Shikan." Just sitting in Zazen, that is the Soto school.
Theory of Human Formation and Cultivation of Spirituality
Now, Tetsufumi Miyasaka's research, "Human Formation in Zen" (1947), systematically clarifies the influence that Zen educational practices had on modern Japanese education. According to the research, the following points have been clarified.
Philosophy of Group Life and Community Formation in Zenrin (Zen Temples)
The philosophy ofgroup lifeandcommunity formationin Zenrin (Zen temples) became the theoretical foundation for life guidance and extracurricular activities in Japanese school education. Training at a Zen temple emphasizes not only individual enlightenment but alsoself-realization within a group and mutual aid, and this idea has been inherited by the concepts of "classroom management" and "group guidance" in Japanese school education.
Integration of Training and Education
In Zen, there is a philosophy called "gyogaku ittai" (the unity of practice and study), which emphasizes cultivating one's character through the entirety of daily life, without separating theoretical study (gaku) from practical training (gyo). This permeates everything, including eating, washing one's face, and even excretion. This philosophy has become the source of "holistic education" and "life guidance" in Japanese education.
The Influence on the Formation of Japanese Spirituality
According to Hirota (2024), it has been revealed that the Zen "concept of nature" potentially influences the attitude in Japanese education and childcare that values "watching over" and "naturalness." In Zen, "nature" (shizen) holds two meanings: "mizukara" (spontaneous) and "onozukara" (a transcendence that happens naturally). This concept contributes to
the formation of a uniquely Japanese view of education that naturally encourages higher-level growth while respecting a child's autonomy and spontaneity.
Furthermore, the forms of Zen training are deeply imprinted on the national character of the Japanese people. Mental concentration through Zazen fostered the focus and perfectionism seen in artisan culture and martial arts, and although politics in the Muromachi period were chaotic, the aesthetic of "wabi-sabi" cultivated a sensibility for finding beauty even in simplicity. Tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and Noh theater are all influenced by Zen. The philosophy of giving one's all to the present moment forms the foundation of Japanese diligence and professional ethics. These combined with Bushido to establish a resilient spirituality known as "heijoshin" (a calm, steady mind).
Concrete Inheritance in School Education Since the Meiji Era
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan introduced Western knowledge systems, but in its methodology for character formation, it retained strong Zen and Japanese values. While the terminology changed from "training" to "life guidance" in post-war educational reforms, the essence has been inherited unchanged. Particularly notable are daily customs such as school cleaning.
The Inheritance of "Samu" (Work) as School Cleaning
In the early Meiji period, school cleaning was originally considered the duty of teachers, but due to financial difficulties and an increase in enrolled students, it became the students' responsibility. However, the background to this becoming established not as mere labor but as an educational activity lies in the Zen philosophy of "samu" (work). In Zen, cleaning and cooking are considered training equivalent to Zazen or chanting sutras. This value of "polishing the heart through cleaning" also fused with the "concept of purity" in Shinto, and was positioned as a practical site for moral education to cultivate diligence, service, and a sense of responsibility.
School Lunch Duty and Autonomous Activities
Duty activities in the school lunch system also remind one of the role of the "tenzo" (head cook) in a Zen temple. The system of "preparing our own meals ourselves" fosters gratitude for labor and a sense of independence. Furthermore, systems like daily monitors and group leaders are applications of the "chiji" (administrative positions in temple management) and autonomous organizational structures of Zen monasteries to schools. Discussions in homeroom meetings (shushu) and role assignments through committee activities function as mechanisms to cultivate leadership and collaboration within a group.
The Culture of Silence and Etiquette
Morning meditation and the "standing and bowing" performed at the beginning and end of classes are simplified versions of Zazen and Zen temple etiquette, remaining as rituals of mental concentration that bring "kejime" (boundaries/discipline) and silence into daily life. The "silent cleaning" practiced in some schools can be said to be a modern interpretation of the spirit of "shikantaza" (just sitting), where one finds oneself by immersing oneself entirely in cleaning. The first lecture I took on Coursera was from Yale University, and because it was a recording of an actual lecture rather than one recorded for online use, I was surprised to see students eating below. This is a scene that would be unthinkable in Japan.
Hybrid Educational Culture
Japanese school education since the Meiji era has a unique structure: it imports the "hardware" of the curriculum from the West, while adopting Zen customs as the "software (OS)" to operate it and raise human beings.
Activities like cleaning, school lunch, and daily monitors may seem like mere practical tasks at first glance, but deep down, the Zen philosophy of "arranging one's living space with one's own hands and operating a community autonomously" flows through them. In the modern day, while there are issues such as the specialization of hygiene management and criticism of managed education, many educators support the effectiveness of these customs in fostering a "heart that cherishes things" and "collaboration and a sense of responsibility."
Japanese education goes beyond the transmission of knowledge, deeply reflecting the Zen spirit of using daily actions themselves as a "living textbook," which forms the foundation for the diligence, discipline, and sense of belonging to a group that Japanese people possess.
In Conclusion: What is a Japanese Person?
I have written at length, but the Japanese people have built their foundation on an unconscious Shinto consciousness based on the silence and purity of Shinto. Also, through Mount Hiei, constructed by a person who was a solid mass of sincerity like Saicho, Buddhism was spread widely throughout Japan with the spirit of "illuminating one corner", and due to the influence of the Zen sect, the importance of cultivating character through the entirety of life without separating theoretical study (gaku) from practical training (gyo) was emphasized, and from there, they have followed a history of creating a new beauty (wabi-sabi) (it is self-evident that this is fused with Shinto).
Originally, one should probably include Neo-Confucianism here, but although the civil service examination was not adopted, in the sense that former monks brought Confucianism from China and studied the Analects and the Four Books and Five Classics, it is likely the same as the continent.
Thinking about it, there is no doubt that the silence of unconscious Shinto and the spirit of beauty of Buddhism and Zen are at the root of the Japanese people today.
Japan will likely become a multi-ethnic nation in the near future. Whether we should protect the above Japanese culture or think flexibly is a challenge for the future, but at the very least, I feel sadness at the thought of modern Japanese people losing their "Japaneseness". I believe that religion is gratitude. I have nothing but gratitude for the ancestors who created such a proud culture. It is neither more nor less than that. That is how faith should be. Thank you very much. Starting tomorrow, Part 2 for instructors will begin for you young teachers, and at 9:30 AM, I will talk about "middle school entrance exams." Please let me start the "Instructor Edition" at 8:00 PM. I look forward to your continued support. Also, I would be happy if you could follow me. If you liked this article, I would be happy if you could give it a 'like'. I am also looking forward to exchanging opinions with everyone in the comments. Thank you very much.